Skip to main content

Managed shared environments

In many organizations, users work on an internal network where internet access is available to IT staff but managed centrally. In this model, ArcGIS Documentation Center is used to download and maintain documentation in a shared location that organization users can access.

This approach allows documentation to be updated centrally while ensuring users always have access to the latest approved content.

Note:

When users have access to the internet continually in an organization, they can view the online documentation without needing to work with ArcGIS Documentation Center.

Typical roles

This workflow usually involves two roles:

  • IT staff

    Manage the shared root folder, download and update documentation sets, and control access permissions.

  • Organization users

    Access documentation from the shared root folder with read‑only permissions.

Typical workflow

A common workflow in a managed shared environment looks like the following:

  1. IT staff install ArcGIS Documentation Center on a machine with internet access.

  2. The root folder is set to a shared network location that organization users can access.

  3. Using the Library tab, IT staff download the required documentation sets to the shared root folder.

  4. Organization users configure ArcGIS Documentation Center to point to the shared root folder.

    Optionally, IT staff can replace the appSettings.json file with a preconfigured version that points to the shared root folder.

  5. Organization users open and use documentation from the shared location.

When IT staff download updates to documentation sets, the updated content becomes available to organization users automatically.

Permissions and access

In this model:

  • IT staff typically have read/write access to the shared root folder.

  • Organization users typically have read‑only access.

Read‑only access helps prevent accidental deletion or modification of documentation sets while allowing users to benefit from centrally managed updates.

Updates and availability

Documentation updates are managed centrally by IT staff. Organization users do not need to download or import documentation themselves.

If internet access is temporarily unavailable, users can continue to access any documentation that is already present in the shared root folder.

Back to top